Curiosities of Literature, by Isaac Disraeli

The Student in the Metropolis.

A man of letters, more intent on the acquisitions of literature than on the intrigues of politics,
or the speculations of commerce, may find a deeper solitude in a populous metropolis than in the seclusion of the
country.

The student, who is no flatterer of the little passions of men, will not be much incommoded by their presence.
Gibbon paints his own situation in the heart of the fashionable world:—“I had not been endowed by art or nature with
those happy gifts of confidence and address which unlock every door and every bosom. While coaches were rattling
through Bond-street, I have passed many a solitary evening in my lodging with my books. I withdrew without reluctance
from the noisy and extensive scene of crowds without company, and dissipation without pleasure.” And even after he had
published the first volume of his History, he observes that in London his confinement was solitary and sad; “the many
forgot my existence when they saw me no longer at Brookes’s, and the few who sometimes had a thought on their friend
were detained by business or pleasure, and I was proud and happy if I could prevail on my bookseller, Elmsly, to
enliven the dulness of the evening.”

A situation, very elegantly described in the beautifully polished verses of Mr. Rogers, in his “Epistle to a
Friend:”

When from his classic dreams the student steals

Amid the buzz of crowds, the whirl of wheels,

To muse unnoticed, while around him press

The meteor-forms of equipage and dress;

Alone in wonder lost, he seems to stand

A very stranger in his native land.

He compares the student to one of the seven sleepers in the ancient legend.

Descartes residing in the commercial city of Amsterdam, writing to Balzac, illustrates these descriptions with great
force and vivacity.

“You wish to retire; and your intention is to seek the solitude of the Chartreux, or, possibly, some of the most
beautiful provinces of France and Italy. I would rather advise you, if you wish to observe mankind, and at the same
time to lose yourself in the deepest solitude, to join me in Amsterdam. I prefer this situation to that even of your
delicious villa, where I spent so great a part of the last year; for, however agreeable a country-house may be, a
thousand little conveniences are wanted, which can only be found in a city. One is not alone so frequently in the
country as one could wish: a number of impertinent visitors are continually besieging you. Here, as all the world,
except myself, is occupied in commerce, it depends merely on myself to live unknown to the world. I walk every day
amongst immense ranks of people, with as much tranquillity as you do in your green alleys. The men I meet with make the
same impression on my mind as would the trees of your forests, or the flocks of sheep grazing on your common. The busy
hum too of these merchants does not disturb one more than the purling of your brooks. If sometimes I amuse myself in
contemplating their anxious motions, I receive the same pleasure which you do in observing those men who cultivate your
land; for I reflect that the end of all their labours is to embellish the city which I inhabit, and to anticipate all
my wants. If you contemplate with delight the fruits of your orchards, with all the rich promises of abundance, do you
think I feel less in observing so many fleets that convey to me the productions of either India? What spot on earth
could you find, which, like this, can so interest your vanity and gratify your taste?”